Bristol-based British Corner Shop, which sells much-loved UK food and drink products such as Bird’s custard and Marmite around the world, is on course for further growth after securing a £2.73m finance facility from HSBC.
The firm will use the funding to further develop its export activities, helping it trade faster and fulfil bigger orders for both its retail and wholesale businesses, while also recruiting three more staff members at its Iron Action head office over the next two months. 
Part of the finance package will also refinance existing debt facilities and help consolidate the firm’s banking requirements with HSBC.
British Corner Shop was launched in founding managing director Mark Callaghan’s garage 13 years ago to help ex-pats get their fix of British kitchen cupboard favourites such as Twiglets, Bisto gravy, Branston pickle and Robinsons barley water.
Today it stocks more than 10,000 products on its online grocery store and ships to 196 countries across the world.
The new funding was arranged by HSBC UK’s new Intellectual Property (IP) lending product, which enables the bank to understand the hidden value of a company’s IP.
The product has been developed to help IP-rich tech businesses that rely on this kind of intangible asset to break down the barriers to accessing and securing bank funding.
Mark Callaghan said: “Moving our banking over to HSBC and securing an uplift in investment means we’re able to grow the business faster as demand for our retail and wholesale products increases.
“The banking team, led by our relationship director Mike Bobroff, talked us through the barriers to securing funding based on our IP and found a solution that gave us currency and them the confidence to lend. With their ongoing support, we’re able to reach more international markets whilst giving UK food and drink suppliers a platform to sell their products overseas.”
HSBC head of corporate banking for Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire James Shepherd said British Corner Shop was a leader in its field with one of the UK’s best-established e-commerce platforms for food and drink exports.
“The export market for these well-known, quirky and artisanal British products is booming so we are delighted to be supporting the business as it grows in new markets like the USA for the first time,” he said.
As part of the finance deal, British Corner Shop had to demonstrate an indicative value for its IP and intangible assets. HSBC brought in Swansea-based specialist IP services firm Inngot to value the business using an innovative online valuation tool.
HSBC UK director of UK technology sector Andrea Tiwana added: “Historically, lending against a company’s IP has been challenging, but as more and more tech-enabled businesses require funding, we’ve put measures in place to overcome these challenges.
“In addition to this, IP-rich tech businesses are typically stronger through the economic cycle and can grow faster than businesses without IP, so proving and valuing their IP helps strengthen their case when applying for funding.”
British Corner Shop, which last year turned over £15m, has recently partnered with the Department for International Trade (DIT) to offer an export platform to UK food and drink suppliers, helping it increase turnover to £50m in the next three years.
